Euro 2012 Semifinal: 6 Things Portugal Should Follow to Beat Spain

The latter stages of the European Championship 2012 are near. Portugal will meet Spain in the first semi while Italy will battle Germany in the other. Both are mouth-watering clashes. Although in hindsight I saw the France vs. Spain match as a great match to watch, only to be disappointed by a one-sided affair.

Spain is leagues in front of some of the others, make no mistake about it. However, as was seen against Italy, the Spanish can be beaten. Remind yourselves how Chelsea won the Champions League ahead of the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and you can see where I am coming from.

Portugal will have to follow certain things religiously against Spain to get a sniff of reaching the final. Let us see the list. 

Be Patient

Vicente Del Bosque's men are masters at playing possession football. If you let it get to you as an opposition player, it will wear you down very quickly. Paulo Bento should tell his players that it will be likely that Spain will have the majority of possession. In such a case, the players should be up for it and not get frustrated or commit rash tackles. 

It is more the usage of the ball than huge chunks of possession that wins you a match in football. Portugal will have to keep their discipline and shape in defense. Creating chances will not be a problem but keeping Spain out will be.

One way to do it is to be patient and avoid losing shape. Spain try and and provoke opponents in trying to get the ball back. This leads to vulnerability for opposition teams by getting spread all over the pitch in futile pursuit of the football.

Keeping Possession

Keeping possession is easier said than done against Spain. The reason I say this is that Portugal are not good at keeping the football for good periods, never mind long ones like the Spanish. Cristiano Ronaldo and his team are very swift. This has dictated Portugal's style of play which is building attacks quickly and getting a shot away.

You just cannot follow the same thing against Spain. Firstly, this will give the Spanish that much more time through the 90 minutes to look for goals. Secondly, if an attack breaks down, Portugal will be under the threat of the counter after most of their players would have outrun the ball into the opposition's half.  

Portugal will have to play like Spain. Measured football without getting too many players in very advanced positions. Paulo Bento should stress on keeping the ball and making passes before trying to set up a shot. Ronaldo and Nani can score from outside the box. Thus Portugal may win even without getting these players into the box.

Open to Measured Counterattacks

Portugal can not be gung-ho with its task of beating the Spanish that is for sure. Patience is key but so are counterattacks. The Portuguese are bound to score in a game with the amount of talent on hand.

But Portugal should not use too many players for counterattacking. Nani, Ronaldo and Postiga should be as far as Paulo Bento should go. Raul Meireles and Joao Moutinho should be conservative and serve as deep lying playmakers for as long as possible. A measured style of counterattacking will serve Ronaldo and company well. This will allow the defense to not be under constant pressure once the ball is lost.

Tracking Spanish Runners

Man marking can be used as a tactic but for how many will you use it against Spain. A thing that can be done is to constantly track every run that any player makes into the box. This again is easier said than done, but if executed well, it will minimize the amount of shots that Spain would get away. Pepe and Alves will be needed to block as much as they can possibly can. 

Even if the Portuguese defense does not prioritize on catching the Spanish offside, they will have to track runners as much as they possibly can. Two in midfield can keep a check on Xavi and Alonso shooting from outside the box. The fullbacks will have to be a little less adventurous so that they are not far from the actual play in case a Spanish player bombs into the box. 

Break Up Play

I will be the last one to advocate anti-football, but if Portugal is aspiring to undo Spain it cannot be done through tiki-taka. Portugal will have to break up play as often as possible. Doing this will not allow the game to pick up a flow that the Spanish like.

If Spain does not get into a rhythm with one-third of the game over, I believe Portugal will grow in confidence. Paulo Bento will start believing that Spain can have a bad day and his team can indeed be the first finalist. This will encourage him to stick to this tactic of trying to stop the game as much as possible.

It will not be nice on the eye, but maybe a useful tactic to sink the Spanish Armada. 

Stand Up to the Referee

Just to end on a bit of humor, the Portuguese will have to stand up to the referee and his decisions in more ways than one as the video illustrates. The Irish were not able to do that and suffered a 4-0 whopping at the hands of the Spanish.

Portugal must do better so that controversy does not take center stage and the match is remembered purely for the great play on the field and footballing reasons.